Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Undeclared by Jen Frederick

I loved it!!! I literally couldn't put it down!
This book grabs you from the very first page!

I particularly liked how it starts with the very first letters that Grace and Noah exchanged. This set the pace for the rest of the book for me.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I was a little apprehensive to start it. Not because I thought I wouldn't like it, but because I was scared to know why Noah stopped writing. His reasonings were not what I expected.

Can you love someone you never met? And when they break all contact, can you feel like your entire world has been shifted on its axis and you no longer know which way is up and which way is down?

The answer to both questions is a resounding YES , as Grace shows us in "Undeclared".

For four years Grace and Noah exchanged letters. They were both looking forward to Noah's end of his tour when they could FINALLY meet. But when Noah realizes that his life is not where it needs to be in order to have someone like Grace by his side, he cuts off all communication.

"Was I supposed to show up at her door with my rucksack and say, 'I am a fucking mess. I can't sleep. I jump at loud noises. I'm likely to strangle your cat if you have one.'"

This leaves Grace a shell of a person full of uncertainty with no direction in which way she wants her life to go. She can't even pick a major.

But two years later when Noah transfers to Central and seeks her out, Grace doesn't understand what his motives are. She loves him but thinks that Noah only sees her as a "friend". Noah will take whatever he can get; if it's just a friendship he will take that... For now.

"Why seek me out at all?" I asked.

"I think you may have got from my letters I don't have a lot of family. You were the only one who wrote me for my entire deployment, and any good memories I have of those four years are tied with you, Grace. How could I not come here?"

OH! My heart melted <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">Grace was still apprehensive, but willing to give "friendship" a chance.

Speaking of friendships, Noah and Bo have been friends since 7th grade. They enlisted together, left the military together, and transferred to Central together. Bo is Noah's rock. More family than Noah's own father. Bo is not convinced that Grace is the right person for Noah. Bo sees the differences in them; where Noah has his whole future mapped out, Grace's is still up in the air. Bo has one of those strong silent personalities most of the time, but every now and then he provides some comedic relief...

"I think you're supposed to take your girlfriend to an erotic film, not your best male friend," Bo commented. "Unless you're trying to tell me something, in which case I have to tell you that I'm flattered, but I play for the other team." :)

Noah fights sanctioned and unsanctioned fights, because he likes the adrenaline rush, but more importantly because it provides a means to achieve his ultimate goals. Be successful and have Grace.

"It was a good thing i only needed a few hours of sleep a night. My nights would now be spent trying to figure out how to get a woman I care about into my corner, rather than the best way to take an opponent to the mat"

Do they overcome their obstacles and are FINALLY together?

You have to read to find out, but I will say this... My favorite quote from the book was this,

"Magnets can be reversed but for some their attraction is so strong, they can't be kept apart":)